we can use it to advance living standards, or we can use it to destroy god's universe. so, to the skeptics and indeed all of us this week, i pose these questions. how can we defend america and the world from a nuclear catastrophe without taking each essential step? alchemy take these steps without-- how can we take these steps without the cooperation of other nations? how can we get the cooperation of other nations without the vision and goal that the world will someday end these weapons as a threat to mankind? in my view, we cannot. the institute has lined up an impressive set of speakers this week. through all the conversations, i hope you will keep asking yourself a couple of the fundamental questions that keep me going. if the unthinkable happened, if the city in the united states or somewhere else was destroyed by a nuclear weapon, the day after the attack, what would we wish we had done to prevent it? second question -- why are we not doing it now? i leave you with the parable of hope. after the collapse of the soviet union, after they began dismantling nuclear wa